Lately I’ve been talking a lot about my art collection in general, and vintage photographs in particular. I’ve been framing some pieces, and have to comment that one of the annoying things about collecting art and photographs is that very often the framing materials cost more than the piece itself. This makes me bitter, and so a lot of times I’ll get frames from thrift stores. For framing photos, I very often get the cheap black aluminum frames that you can get at art stores. Depending on what I get, though, I always make adjustments.
Here are some things to keep in mind when framing art, “giclee” digital prints, and photos:
- Always use archival acid-free materials.
- Don’t use glue to mount your art to a board.
- Cellophane tape does not belong anywhere near art.
- Depending on your budget, use U.V. blocking glass.
- Make sure photos don’t touch the glass.
- Don’t use harsh cleaning materials during the process.
- Handle everything as little as possible, and use photo handling gloves
when doing so.
Natural Enemies of art, giclee prints, and photos:
- fingerprints
- extreme temperatures
- moisture
- light, especially UV light
- improper handling and environmental factors
- time
- love – OK OK not love. Sorry.
Here’s our project today. This is an original photographic print from 1927 by White Studios in New York. The photo shows the “Sixteen Sunshine Girls” scene in an early 20th Century operetta called “Good Morning Dearie” by Jerome Kern and Anne Caldwell, about which there is actually a surprising amount of information on the Internets. It’s a little strange that the photo is dated 1927 when the production ended in 1922. This is one of my favorites from my collection. It is graphically appealing, excellently composed, and has a fascinating subject. It may be somewhat culturally insensitive now, but I adore the early 20th Century obsession with the orient. On top of all that, it is a technically excellent photo and print.
With old photos like this, I’m not the owner. I’m just the person who will be taking care of them for now, and I get to have them around as a bonus.
So let’s get detailed about framing:
These days archival, acid-free mat materials are basically the same price as everything else, so you may as well ask for them when buying mat board and other framing materials. When I buy used frames, I try to make sure that they’re old, made from metal or solid wood and plaster, and weren’t manufactured from press-board. Most cheap frames you’ll get at framing stores today are made from composite wood products. These products are not inert, which is to say that they are out-gassing chemicals. With used frames, I replace all the mat boards in case they aren’t archival quality.
When framing photos and art, you don’t want to use any kind of glue or adhesive except in some very rare occasions. You will find that it is advantageous to mount photos to the backing mat board using mounting solutions that don’t stick to the photo itself. With small photos, it’s OK to use the photo mounting corners
that one would use in albums. For larger photos, there are mounting edge strips
. These are strips which adhere to the backing and have a fold that the edges of the photo tuck into. Some real pros will use special strips of linen to hinge photos to the framing mat board. I’m not into that, though, because it’s not something that is easy to remove without damaging the photo.
Before you do anything, wash your hands. This will remove grease and sweat from your fingers, and you’ll do less damage to everything you touch. Then put on your photo handling gloves. Next get everything out and ready to go. Mat board, backing mat board, frame, glass, art, and whatever will be used to mount the photo to the backing board. Consider that what you’re doing when you frame a piece of art is that you’re putting it in a bubble that is designed to protect it.
Part of the job of the mat board is to hold the surface of your piece of art away from the glass. This is especially important with photos because they are notorious for adhering themselves to glass when given the chance, which ruins the photo. So, using your method of choice, you want to mount the photo to the backing board. Then add the framing mat board (or boards) on top. Did I mention that I love how sepia photos look with black and white? Also, if you’re using a frame that needs assembly, put it together as much as possible before you get to the glass. You always want to do the glass last. Why? Because you’re going to clean the glass, and during the few moments between the time you clean it and when you get it into the frame, that glass is going to be collecting dust, furiously.
Let’s talk about glass for a minute. Most framing shops have three or four grades of glass. There is plain old glass. Don’t buy this glass at an art shop! You can get this cheaper at hardware stores that will cut it to the size you want, usually for free. The first grade up from plain old glass is glass that is kind of frosted to have a matte surface so that it doesn’t reflect. Generally, this looks like crap, and I don’t recommend it. The next grade up is glass with UV protection. This glass filters out almost all of the UV (ultraviolet) light that hits it. UV light degrades both the colors of the photo and the physical photo itself, making it more brittle. This damage happens a lot faster than you would expect. (See note #1 at the very end). The next grade up usually has UV protection and an anti-reflective coating. The anti-reflective coating works to make the glass “invisible”, and really does a good job when viewed from directly in front of the picture. Unfortunately, when viewed at angles, it can cause green/purple color casting. Check out the photo below for an example of what that looks like. It’s mostly visible in the reflected light from the windows there, but you can see some green just to the left of the photo.
Purple and Green Casting from Anti-Reflective Glass Coating
Of course, the UV protected glass with the anti-reflection coating is expensive. To give an example, the 16 x 20 inch piece of glass for this photo had these prices:
- Glass from hardware store: $6.00 US
- UV Protection Glass: $19.00 US
- UV Protection and Anti-reflective coating glass: $28.00 US
One last grade that is sometimes available is a clear acrylic sheet with the UV protection and the anti-reflective coating. The benefit of this material is that it is much less expensive than the glass equivalent. However, this stuff scratches if you look at it wrong, cannot be cleaned with regular solutions, and can never escape that sort of cheap “feel” that clear acrylic sheet has.
As I mentioned above, what you’re doing when you frame a photo is sealing it up. So besides the mat board and mounting, a monster has to consider what is being put into the environment that the picture is being sealed up in. As a result, during the framing process, you don’t want to use anything harsh (read: Windex) to clean the glass. All such cleaners also leave a film on the glass. Instead, I use very little of a mild dish washing liquid, a sponge, and a lot of water. Glass usually has grease left from the manufacturing process, so a little soap is necessary to take that off. Once the glass is clean, I really try to rinse all of the soap off of the glass with the water. Then I dry the glass thoroughly with paper towels. Once the glass is mostly dry, I put on photo handling gloves. They keep you from leaving fingerprints on the glass, and will also keep sharp glass edges from cutting your fingers.
So clean that glass, put on the gloves, put the glass onto the matted picture (with the fancy glass, make sure to put the right surface facing in), and put it in the frame. Then inspect the result. If you’re like me, you’ll never get it 100% perfect the first time. A huge piece of dust will have zipped in there before you could get the glass onto the picture, or there will be a spot of residue on the glass that didn’t come off when you cleaned it, and is only visible now that you’ve put everything together. If you got lucky, the residue will be on the outside so you can clean it off without taking everything apart. If not, take it apart and take whatever action is necessary to clean the glass of dust and residue. In the case of dust, you may be able to take it off with a fingertip of your photo handling glove. In the case of residue, I usually take the glass back to the sink and wash the whole thing again.
OK. Got the glass 100% clean, and the frame put together? You’re not done yet. Don’t forget posterity! Label the back with any information you have about the photo, giclee print, or art contained in the frame. So: List the artist, print number, date, gallery it was shown at, person in the photo, photographer, and etc. I also leave a note about the glass. At this point, professionals use paper and adhesive to seal the back. While there is no way to seal the art in 100%, this step helps to minimize oxidation, changes in humidity and temperature (see note #2). I don’t currently do this, but most professional framing shops will.
Done!
Notes:
Note #1 – About UV or ultraviolet light: Most giclee digital prints today are made with UV resistant inks, so if you’re framing a print made in the past couple of years, and the print won’t be hung anywhere near sunlight or fluorescent lighting, you may not have to worry so much about UV. It is also the case that storm windows being made now usually have UV protection. One way to test this is to lay down in a sun ray coming through the window. If your windows have UV protection, you won’t feel nearly as much heat as you will through a regular window.
Note #2 – Ideal temperatures for storing and displaying art are considered to be 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit. Ideal humidity is in the range of 35-50%. So yeah, you’re probably thinking that your basement is nice and cool, but basements also tend to be too wet. Monsters who are SERIOUS about art conservation also will never hang their art on the outer walls of a building, because of the temperature variation.
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